ECHKNBIS. FISHES. 431 



under parts paler ; sucker ovate j dorsal, anal, and caudal fins 

 separate. 2 inches long. Inhabits British coasts. Wern. Trans.i. 

 pi. 5. fig. 1. 



L. gelatinosus, Cuv. Body slender, oblong, compressed, with a rosy 

 tinge ; skin smooth, flesh very smooth, trembling like jelly when 

 touched ; dorsal and anal fins dark violet. 18 inches long. In- 

 habits coasts of Kamtschatka Shaw, v. 393. 



Gen. 21. ECHENEIS, Lin. 



Head flattened or truncated before, the flattened disc on the 

 top composed of transverse plates obliquely directed back- 

 wards, and dentated or spinous on their posterior border ; 

 body elongated, covered with small scales ; one soft dorsal fin. 



E. Remora, Lin. The Remora. Body brown ; head flat above, 

 with eighteen plates on the disc ; under jaw rather longer than 

 the upper ; tail crescent-shaped. 18 inches long. Inhabits Me- 

 diterranean sea Shaw, iv. pi. 31. 



This fish was believed among the ancients to possess the power of stopping a ship 

 in the middle of its course, by attaching itself to the rudder ; and the fate of the 

 battle of Actium is said to have been decided in favour of Augustus, from the cir- 

 cumstance of a Remora having stopped Anthony's ship. The Remora is of an elon- 

 gated form, and its body is covered with a viscid fluid. The flattened disc on the 

 top of the head is composed of a number of transverse plates obliquely directed back- 

 wards, dentated or spinous at their posterior extremity, and moveable in such a 

 manner that the fish is able, by producing a vacuum, to adhere by this process to rocks, 

 fishes, or other bodies. The smallness of the fins of the Remora prevents it from 

 swimming rapidly ; but this is compensated by the faculty which it possesses of ad- 

 hering to other fishes, such as the shark ; and instances are related of sharks being 

 taken with the Remora attached, which it required considerable force to remove. 



E. naucrates, Lin. Indian Remora. Body olive green, elongated, 

 whitish beneath ; fins deep yellow, with a violet border ; twenty- 

 two to twenty-four plates on the disc ; tail ovate. 2 to 3 feet 

 long. Inhabits Indian and American seas. Shaw, iv. pi. 31. 



E. lineata, Schn. Body long ; subulate, smooth, dark brown, dot- 

 ted all over with minute darker spots, and two longitudinal white 

 lines on each side ; ten plates on the disc ; tail cuneated. 5 in- 

 ches long. Inhabits Pacific Ocean. Shaw, iv. 211. 



Gen. 22. OPHICEPHALUS, Bloch. 



Body and head covered with large scales, those of the vertex 

 irregular ; some larger hooked ones on the sides ; head de- 

 pressed, obtuse, and short before ; one dorsal fin ; teeth in 

 a rasp-like form, with five rays in the branchial membrane. 



O. punctatus, Bloch. Body dusky, paler beneath, with numerous 

 black points ; dorsal fin long. 1 inches long. Inhabits rivers 

 and lakes in India. Shaw, iv. pi. 75. 



O. striatus, Bloch. Body elongated, dusky ; abdomen whitish ; part 

 of the body obliquely striped with yellow and brown bands. 12 

 inches long. Inhabits lakes of India. Bloch, pi. 359. 



